M+, at the West Kowloon Cultural District, launches its new global partnership initiative M+ International with the project The Hidden Pulse, taking place in Sydney between 29 May and 2 June. The five-day programme is part of Vivid LIVE 2019, the annual centrepiece of the Sydney Opera House’s year-round contemporary music programme, and is curated by Ulanda Blair, Curator, Moving Image, M+, and Sarah Rees, Curator, Contemporary Art, Sydney Opera House. Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House is part of Vivid Sydney, the largest festival of light, music, and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Hidden Pulse is the first-ever moving image programme in Vivid LIVE’s eleven-year history. The programme comprises artists’ videos, films, and talks that use contemporary music and performance as their stimuli, and that consider the political, social, and cultural power of music and performance histories.
he Propeller Group (established Vietnam, 2006). The Living Need Light, the Dead Need Music (still), 2014. Single-channel video (colour, sound), 21 min 15 sec. M+, Hong Kong. Courtesy of the artist and M+
As Hong Kong’s new museum of visual culture, M+ is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting design and architecture, moving image, visual art, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The museum is launching M+ International to create partnerships and collaborations for these activities, and to expand connections with regions beyond Hong Kong. The initiative aims to generate a broader international resonance for M+, whose Herzog & de Meuron– designed building is slated for completion in 2020.
Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, emphasises the importance of the international collaboration: ‘M+ continues to define a distinctive voice in the contemporary conversation on visual culture, as we work towards the completion of our permanent home in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District. M+ International is a clear expression of our voice on a new global stage and, with The Hidden Pulse, we affirm our commitment to collaboration across contexts. The growth of our transnational and cross-disciplinary work allows us to establish new relationships, produce new research, and tell new stories for visual culture in Hong Kong, Asia, and beyond.’
Ulanda Blair, Curator, Moving Image, M+, underscores the programme’s significance for M+: ‘The Hidden Pulse explores intersections between moving image, music, and performance, and I am delighted to be able to feature some of the artists in M+’s growing moving image collection. The programme articulates our strong engagement with contemporary practices from around the world, as well as our firm grounding in Asia. Through this exciting interdisciplinary collaboration with the Sydney Opera House, M+ can share our work with Australian audiences for the first time, while also activating our moving image collection in new and unexpected ways.’
Through moving image works, The Hidden Pulse explores the capacity of music and performance to build community, resist authority, shape identity, transform culture, excavate history, and ultimately reclaim cultural space. The programme showcases work by Arthur Jafa (American, born 1960), who was awarded the Golden Lion for best artist at the Venice Biennale in 2019; Wu Tsang (American, born 1982); and Cheng Ran (Chinese, born 1981) and Shao Yanpeng (Chinese, born 1981), all of whom will give talks alongside their screenings. Major presentations of work by Charles Atlas (American, born 1949) and Stan Douglas (Canadian, born 1960) accompany these live events, and The Hidden Pulse also presents four free thematic screening programmes, featuring work by Oliver Beer (British, born 1985), Meriem Bennani (Moroccan, born 1988), Jay Chung and Q Takeki Maeda (American, born 1976; Japanese, born 1977), Martin Creed (British, born 1968), Dara Friedman (German, born 1968), Camille Henrot (French, born 1978), Amrita Hepi (Bundjulung (Australia) and Ngapuhi (New Zealand), born 1990), Christian Jankowski (German, born 1968), Rashid Johnson (American, born 1977), Mark Leckey (British, born 1964), Angelica Mesiti (Australian, born 1976), Vincent Moon (French, born 1979), Jenn Nkiru (British, born 1987), Hetain Patel (British, born 1980), the Propeller Group (established Vietnam, 2006), Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra (Australian, born 1985; Australian, born 1990), Tao Hui (Chinese, born 1987), YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES (established South Korea, 1999), Samson Young (Hong Kong, born 1979), Katarina Zdjelar (Serbian, born 1979), and Zhou Tao (Chinese, born 1976). Panel discussions involving local and international artists and curators unpack the themes of The Hidden Pulse.
Sarah Rees, Curator, Contemporary Art, Sydney Opera House, says, ‘The Hidden Pulse will give audiences the opportunity to view moving image artworks by acclaimed international artists from diverse geographical locations and cultural backgrounds. I hope the screenings and talks will prompt audiences to consider some of the complex histories that have shaped contemporary music, and the social contexts in which it is both produced and consumed.’
Sandra Chipchase, Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer and Vivid Sydney Executive Producer, says, ‘Vivid Sydney celebrates the Harbour City as the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific, and this exciting addition to Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House reflects that. We know that millions of visitors will enjoy exploring the breadth of light installations and projections, music performances, collaborations and creative ideas, and discussion and debate.’
